Raskin makes case for dropping electoral college in favor of popular vote

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin on Friday called for a change in how elections in the United States are conducted, arguing that a president should be elected based on the popular vote rather than the electoral college.

Multiple states passed one effort to change the presidential election process last year, called the "National Popular Vote Interstate Compact," by pledging their delegates to whatever candidate receives the most amount of votes nationwide, regardless of political party. But the effort did not secure the 270 delegate count it needed to go into effect. 

Raskin touted the popularity of the compact, which was passed by 17 states, and claimed that the current electoral college system is outdated. He stated that a president should not be elected if they lose the popular vote on the national level. 

"How about it’s time to start electing the president the way we elect mayors and representatives and senators and governors? Whoever gets the most votes, wins," Raskin said at an event in Washington, D.C., Fox News reported. "Rather than a convoluted, antique, obsolete system from the 18th century, which these days can get you killed as nearly it did on January 6, 2021."

Raskin added that "everyone" knew who had really won the 2020 presidential election, and that certifying the results of the electoral college only gave former President Donald Trump the "opportunity to invoke a mob" to storm the Capitol complex.

The Democratic lawmaker also noted that the winner of the popular vote is often the person who wins the electoral college. However, two of the five times that the president lost the popular vote occurred in the 21st century.

"We've had five popular vote losers in American history become president, twice in this century alone, in 2000 and 2016," Raskin said. "I think the vast majority of American people think we should be electing the president just by having an election in seeing who gets the most votes, rather than this convoluted, rickety system where it all comes down to a handful of states, six or seven states instead of everybody’s vote counting equally everywhere in the country."

In order to abolish the Electoral College, Congress would need to amend the U.S. Constitution, which requires approval from two-thirds of Congress and three-quarters of the states.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.